Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Town Resources
Community Development Block Grant Program
The Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) is a federally funded program administered by the
Town of Arlington. CDBG funds can be used for numerous activities serving low- and moderate-income
populations, including but not limited to housing activities. The administering agency (in this case the Town) has
significant discretion in how to spend the funds.
According to the Town’s Consolidated Plan, Arlington spends a portion of its CDBG funds on new ownership and
rental affordable housing development and rehabilitation and capital improvements for existing affordable
housing developments. In past years, the Town also provided grants to individual low-income homeowner
households to rehabilitate or repair their homes, though a lack of eligible households has caused this program to
wind down over the past three years. Beyond housing, the Town also spends CDBG funds on public infrastructure
(such as sidewalk reconstruction to improve ADA compliance), public facilities (such as playground development),
public services (such as youth counseling and job opportunities), and program administration.
In program year 2019 (which ran from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020), the Town awarded more than half of
CDBG funds to projects that improved public infrastructure and existing affordable housing units, according to
that year’s Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). Overall, the Town reports that its
CDBG activities served 7,535 households in program year 2019, though it notes the COVID-19 pandemic
disrupted public services delivered and the reporting of data.
The Town also reports the racial and ethnic makeup of CDBG assisted households, with race reported separately
from ethnicity, which is